FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup Fourth Round Replay - Oxford United v Newcastle United - Kassam Stadium, Oxford, Britain - February 4, 2020 Oxford United manager Karl Robinson applauds fans after the match. Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley/File Photo
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - If Salford City's FA Cup third-round tie at Premier League titans Manchester City was not already a mammoth challenge, their preparations took a hit this week with the winter weather making their Moor Lane pitch too slick for training.
But manager Karl Robinson said no matter the result, Saturday's David v Goliath clash at the Etihad Stadium is already a victory for his fourth-tier club.
"I don't think there's any outcome from this that should be negative," Robinson told reporters on Thursday. "We should look at this as a celebration of how far we've come."
Moor Lane, which lacks the under-pitch heating of bigger stadiums, looked more like a skating rink on Thursday under a blanket of ice and snow thanks to Manchester's current deep freeze.
Manchester United have loaned Salford the indoor facility at their old training ground The Cliff.
"We've had difficulties, as you'd imagine. We've been very, very thankful (to United)," Robinson said. "The problem is it's only 50 yards wide, and I think only 80 yards long. And I can honestly say to you, the size of the opposition's pitch at the weekend is going to feel a lot bigger than that.
"We've had to do our best to give ourselves the greatest opportunity to put a performance on."
While Saturday will be the first competitive meeting between Manchester City and Salford City, the game is not without a sense of rivalry.
Manchester United greats Gary and Phil Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt are all part-owners of Salford.
'GREATEST MANAGERS OF ALL TIME'
Scholes and Giggs are often at training, with Scholes in attendance on Thursday. Robinson called the team's ownership a "massive reason" why he accepted the head coaching position a year ago.
"If I can't learn listening to people who played for one of the greatest managers of all time in Sir Alex Ferguson ... just listening to little things like them speaking about some of their big games and how they dealt with that, and can you implement that into League Two in your own unique way?" said the 44-year-old Robinson.
"It was all about me learning a different way of coaching and managing. I've loved it."
Asked about the biggest thing he has learned, Robinson said it is the simplicity of the game and the basics.
"Can you pass forward? Can you run forward? Are you willing to eke every ounce of energy out of your body to win?" he said. "I just want my players to work the hardest they possibly can, and whatever the outcome, I can accept it."
Robinson was born in Rainhill, about 10 miles east of Liverpool, and said he had taken some teasing from friends over Salford's United connection.
"They're all a little bit two-faced, actually, because they all want tickets for the weekend," he laughed.
Robinson said for a small team in a city of football giants, Saturday's match puts Salford on the map.
"Listen, when you're in the shadows of two of the biggest football clubs in world football -- Manchester City or Manchester United -- the history, the success that they've had, the enormous worldwide support that they get, we're always playing in their shadows.
"But this game has certainly woke a few people up who have gone, 'They're doing okay.'"
Salford are on a run of six successive victories and are level on points with second-placed Crewe Alexandra in the fourth tier. Manchester City are languishing sixth in the Premier League after a woeful run of results, but have won their last two.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
